Vending machine



July 9, 1929. H. c. WILLIAMSON i VENDING MACHINE Filed May 26, 1927 2 SheeS-Sheei Z if July'9, 1929 H. c. WILLIAMSON 1.720.505

VENDING MACHINE Filed May. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2` upon a common shaft 33 and the metal at the top and forward end of each arm is angularly bent laterally, as at 34, .and preferably bent over upon itself to form a relatively thick head 35 adapted te engage behind a tablet or other article to be vended. The rear edge of the portion 34 is thinned down and bent downward slightly as at 37, to constitute a tooth which will engage with the ratchet notches or slots 1S)` as the carriage moves forward beneath the plate 12. The two pushers 32 are connected to each other by a transverse web 33 which is depressed below the upper faces of the pusher-s and a transverse rod 39 projects out from one of the pushers. It will be understood, of course, that each of these pushers 32 has a width equal to the width of the enlargements 15 and 16 of the slots 14. A spring 40 act-s to urge both of said pushers downward into parallel relation to the carriage 23.

For the purpose of raising the pushers so that upon a forward movement they lmay be engaged with the downwardly depressed lip 17 of each web 1S, I provide a lever 41 pivotally mounted at 42, upon the side wall of the casing, this lever extending rearward beyond the edge of the side wall of the casing and then being deflected inward and extending longitudinally beneath the pin 39. The rear end of this lever is connected to the contractile spring 43 which urges the rear end of the lever upward. The forward end of the lever is pivotally connected by a link 44 to a lever 45 pivoted at 46 upon the side wall of the casing and extending forward beyond the side wall.

Mounted upon the shaft 28 is a locking member 47 which is provided with a cam constituted by a; pin 48 which extends beneath the forward end of the lever 45 and when the shaft 28 is shifted in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1 this pin 48 rides upward beneath the lever 45, raising the forward end ofthe lever 41. This causes the rear end of the lever to be depressed. Upon the insertion of a coin, it is necessary that the forward end of the lever be depressed and the rear end raised to raise the pushers out of the enlargements 15 of slots 14 and against the action of the spring 40. To this end I provide a keeper 49 mounted upon the lever 41 and provide a pivoted latch 50 mounted adjacent the keeper and which normally engages beneath the bill 51 of the keeper. This latch has the form of a bell crank lever and is pivoted at 52 and the forward end of the latch is pivoted to a connecting rod 53, which in turn is connected to the coin actuated mechanism which may be of any desired character.

lVhen a coin has been deposited it causes the depression of the connecting rod 53 and this retracts the latch 50 from beneath the bill 51. The spring 43 then acts to raise the-rear end of. the lever 4l, and this lever, acting upon the pin 39, lifts both of the pushers 32 into an upwardly and forwardly inclined position. If then the lever 31 be shifted forward, the arm 27 will, through the connecting rod 2G, act to shift the carriage 23 forward. The pushers 32 will thus ride over the top of the webs 18 of the plate 12 and push the article to be vended out through the delivery slot. Vfhen the pushers reach the forward enlargements 1G the spring 40 will cause the depression of the pushers, which will drop downward into the` enlargements 1G and into parallel relation to the carriage 23, and upon a bacluvard movement of the carriage, caused by the contraetile spring 54, which is attached to arm 2T and to any suitable portion of the easing llt), the carriage will move backward to its initial position. lVhen the carriage reaches its initial position, the pushers will still be lowered and will remain lowered and in inopera tive position until a coin is again deposited, so that even though the locking mechanism for the handle, which will be later described, is not released, the actuation of the handle would have no effect in delivering any goods through the delivery slot. As the pushersl 32 move forward over the webs 18, the pushers will successively pass the notches 'la and as before explained. these notches act as ratchet teeth, preventing any rearward movement of the pushers until thel pushers have dropped through the enlargements lt. Fhus it will not be possible for a person to partially actuate the pushers to slightly project an article, pull the article out. of the delivery slot, return the pushers to their initial position, and secure a new article without the deposit of a second coin.

For the purpose of locking` the handle from any actuation until a coin is deposited.

I provide the locking member 47. This. as

before stated, extends upward from and is mounted upon the shaft 23 and is provided at its upper end with the tooth Pivotally mounted upon the wall of the casing l() is a handle latch 5G in the form of a lever pivoted at 5T. This is angular iu cross section and the top flange. of the lever is extended forward out through au opening 53 in the casing wall and is widened and formed with a longitudinally extendingl slot 59. The forward end of this widened portion of the lever is upwardly turned as at GO. rfhe rear end of the lever carries a depending ear 61 which extends out through a slot 62 in the casing wall and Ais coil nected to the coiled contractile spring (Sil. A link 64 is aivoted to the lever 41 and the lower end o this link is slotted as at G5, and a pin GG extends through this slot into the ear G1. The spring G3 acts to urge the forward end of the locking lever 5G downward so as to hold this forward end in enlll() tion beneath the plate, manually controllable means actuatable to shift the pusher above the plate when the pusher` is at the rear end of its stroke to bring the pusher into -engagement with an article, manually actuatable means for shifting the carriage longitudinally of and upon the plate as a support to eject the article, the plate being so formed as to permit the pusher to shift to its normal position entirely beneath the plate when the pusher has reached the forward end of its stroke, and means preventing a return of the pusher to its retracted position until it has made a full ejecting stroke.

4l. ln a vending machine, a. i'ixed article supporting plate constituting the bottoni of a magazine, a carriage reciprocating beneath said plate, an article pusher pivotally mounted on the carriage and resiliently urged to a position beneath the plate, manually controllable means actuatable to shift the pusher above the plate and into enga-gement with the article, an actuating handle operatively connected to the carriage whereby the carriage may be shifted forward, the pusher operating over and being supported by the plate upon the forward movement of the pusher with the carriage, and means preventing a return of the pusher to its retracted position until it has made full ejecting stroke, the plate being so formed as to permit the pusher to drop to its normal position entirely beneath the plate when the pusher has reached the forward end of its stroke.

5. ln a vending machine, an article supporting plate constitutingthe bottom of a magazine, a carriage travelling beneath said plate, an article pusher pivoted upon the carriage and yieldingly urged to a position beneath the plate, an actuating handle operatively connected to the carriage to shift it, manually releasablc means for latching the handle from actuation, and means actuated by said last named means acting to shift the pusher to a position above the plate and into engagement with the article, the plate being so formed at its forward end as to permit the pusher to drop into a position beneath 'the plate when a full forward stroke has been.

made.

6. ln a vending machine, an article supporting plate constituting the bottom of a magazine, a carriage travelling beneath said plate, an article pusher pivotally mounted en the carriage and yieldingly urged to a position beneath the plate, the plate being longitudinally slotted to permit the projecting of the article pusher through the plate, the slot being widened at its opposite ends, an actuating handle operatively connected to the carriage, a lever having its rear end operatively engaged with the pusher when the later is in its retracted position, means urging the rear end of said lever upward to thereby raise the pusher to a position above the plate, and a manually releasable latch normally holding thcl rear end of the lever depressed.

7. In a vending machine, an article supporting plate constituting the bottom of a magazine, a carriage travelling beneath said plate, an article pusher pivotally mounted on the carriage and yieldingly urged to a position beneath the plate, the plate being longitudinally slotted to permit the projecting of the article pusher through the plate, the slot being widened at its opposite ends, an actuating handle operatively connected to the carriage, a lever having its rear end operatively engaged with the pusher when the later is in its retracted position, means inging the rear end of said lever upward to thereby raise thc pusher to a position above the plate. a manually rel l,usable latch normally holding thc rear end of the lcvcr depressed, a latch operatively engaging the handle and normally preventing actuation thereof, and means connecting the lever to said last named latch to cause a release of the last named latch when the first named latch is released and the lever shifted under the action of its spring.

8. ln a vending machine, an article supporting plate, constituting the bottom of a, magazine and formed with two longitudinally extending slots, the slots being'latcrally widened at their ends, a carriage travelling beneath said plate, a pair of article pushers connected to cach other for unitary movement and pivotally mounted upon the carriage, means urging the article pushcrs downward to the position beneath said plato, each article pusher having a shank adapted to travel through the slot, and a head larger than the slot but adapted to pass through the enlarged ends of the slot, an actuating handle operatively connected to the carriage to cause the coincident movement of the carriage when the handle is shiil'tcd, manually controlled means for lifting both of said pushers to a position above the face of the plate through the rearward enlargements of the slots, and means. preventing reverse movement of the carriage and of the lever until the carriage has made a lull stroke forward and the pushers are dropped through the forward enlargements of the slots.

9. In a vending machine, an article supporting plate constituting the bottom of a magazine, a carriage travelling beneath .said plate, an article pusher on the car Iinge yieldingly urged to a position beneath the plate but movable into position above the plate, an actuating handle operatively connected to the carriage to shift it, a spring urging the carriage rearward, a lever having its rear end disposed beneath the rear end of the plate and engaging beneath a portion of the pusher, a spring urging the rear cud of the lever upward to thus raise the pusher lllll into a position above the plate, a keeper carried by the lever, a ehiftable latch .normally engaging Said keeper to hold the forward end of the lever raised and its rear end depressed, manually actuable means; for releasing said latch, a handle latch operatively engaging` the handle to prevent its actuation and operatively connected to said lever and lifted when the .forward end of the level' is depressed, and means carried by the handle` fmeratively engaging the forward end of the level' to lift it as the handle is moved forward, the upward movement of the lever permittingl the tiret named latch to engage beneath the keeper. l

l0. ln a vending machine, a supporting frame, an article pusher mounted upon the frame for longitudinal movement to eject an article, an actuating lever operatively connected to the frame, an arm associated and movable with the actuating lever, a latch normally engaging Said arm and preventing the actuating movement of the lever, manually operable means for releasing said latch to permit the forward movement of the lever and arm, and meane carried by the arm for returning` the latch to its operative poe; ion, said latch yieldingly Shifting,l to permit the rfa-engagement of the latch with the arm upon the return of the operating` lever to ite` normal position.

ll. ln a vending, machine, a supporting frame, an article ejecting means mounted in the frame, an actuating.;` lever operatively connected to the ejecting means and actuating the same upon a movement of the lever in one direction from a normal position, a latch holdin@ the lever from actuation and yieldingly urged to a latching position, 1nan ually controllable means for releasing; said latch to permit the movement of the actuat ing lever in one direction, and moana carried by the actuating lever acting to return the latch to its engaging position when the lever is actuated.

l2. ln a vending machine, a ,Supportine1 frame, article ejecting,` means, an actrulting1 handle operatively connected to the ejecting means, a latch pvoted upon the fii'ame and operatively engaging the actuating handle when the handle is in its normal position, a lever mounted upon the frame, means urge ing' the forward end of the lever downward, the forward end of the lever beine' operatively connected Ato the rear end of the latch, a. manually releasable latch normally holding; the forward end. of the lever raised, and the latching end of the latch depressed in operative engagement with the handle, and means actuated by the for iard movement of the handle acting to lift the forward end of the lever and depress the handle engaging end of the latch ae the lever its moved forward, the lifting' of the forward end of the lever acting' to operatively engage it with the marmally releasable latch,

1 3. ln a vending machine, articlel ejecting moana, a rock Shaft operatively connected to the ejecting` .moana to actuate the saine, a handle upon the rock shaft, a latching arm carried by the rock shaft and moving' withv the handle, a latch pivotally mounted upon the Supporting frame and having` its fori'ard end formed for engagement with said arm and actingte prevent the forward movement of the handle, a lever pivoted upon the frame and having,` one end operatively connected to the rear end of the latch, a spring` engaging the opposite end of the lever to urge it upward, a keeper carried by the latch engaging end of the lever, a second latch engaging with the keeper and normally holding` the keeper raised and the forward end of the latch depressed, a piv oted, manually releasable latch mounted upon the frame and normally engaging with eaid keeper, manually controlled means for releasin the last named latch, a Second lever mounted upon the frame and operatively connected to the first lever to move there-- with, and a cam carried by the rock ehaft rearward of the arm and engaging the second named lever to lift the same when the actuating handle is moved forward to thereby return the lever to its initial position.

In testin'iony whereof l hereunto afllii; my

signature.

HENRY C. lVIliLllllllSON0 

